Kenyan Kipton wins the Maiden Lagos Marathon

Kenyan athlete Abraham Kipton has won the maiden edition of the Lagos City Mara­thon race with a record time of two hours, sixteen minutes and nineteen seconds.

He was closely followed by Kikpemboi Hosea also a Kenyan athlete who finished the forty two kilometers race that started at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos and finished at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island with a record time of two hours sixteen minutes thirty four seconds.

The star prize of $50,000 in the marathon that attracted over 20,000 local and interna­tional athletes, flagged off by the Minister of Youths and Sports Mr. Solomon Dalung around 7:10 AM went to Abraham Kiptom, while Kikpemboi Hosea got $40,000.

The first Nigerian to cross the finish line Philip Sharubutu from Nasarawa state got N1,000,000 as a consolation prize to encourage Nigerians in the marathon sport­ing programme, while Halima Hussein, an Ethiopian won the gold medal in the female category having finished the marathon race with a record time of two hours, thirty eight minutes, thirty eight seconds.

Speaking at the finish point of the 2016 La­gos City Marathon race in Eko Atlantic City, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode said the state was glad to host athletes from different parts of the world.

He said, “On behalf of the government and people of Lagos State, I welcome you all, especially the IAAF First Vice President, Kalbaka Malboum, and the Gold, Silver and Bronze labelled runners who have come to participate in our marathon. We are greatly encouraged by the interest generated by this event and look forward to it, becoming an IAAF Gold Label race soon.

“This is a historic moment as Lagos joins major cities in the world to promote the mara­thon. The last time this event held was 30 years ago. I stand here to tell you today that this event is here to stay.

“We are committed to sustaining this event and ensuring consistent improvement to make it one of the best marathons in the world. As a government, we are determined to make Lagos the hub of sports in Africa. We will embrace other international sports and Lagos will bid to host Continental and International sports tournaments.”